


this one's for the accidental lovers

by lavab0y



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Gay, M/M, but rly, everything is for helen, everything is gay, for Helen, gay af, gay till u die, im kidding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-10
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-20 08:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2422094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavab0y/pseuds/lavab0y
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(this one's for the one's who don't give a fuck)</p>
            </blockquote>





	this one's for the accidental lovers

**Author's Note:**

  * For [softirwin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/softirwin/gifts).



> happy birthday helen. i love you loads and i'll probably send u a stupid sappy message at midnight or smth idk im such a dork but anyway here's this fic for u i know u were hoping for malum incest but i didn't want to ruin it so i'll let pary tackle that one.
> 
> this is super long and stupid but yeah love u xxx

calum felt at home with michael.

****

which, if he was being honest, was quite weird, seeing as michael lived over nine thousand miles away. (london was like a foreign country to calum.)

****

but to see michael’s face on his screen was to unlock the door, make a mug of tea and curl up in bed with robot, his gray-furred, green-eyed cat.

****

and looking at michael right now, who was in the middle of a wild story involving his best friend ashton and a shopping cart at two am, who was bright, and so, so beautiful, calum felt a little more than at home.

****

he felt in love.

****

x x x

****

it started on a weekend in may.

****

calum was supposed to be doing his independent study work for uni, but the free wifi in the quaint coffee shop was desperate to be used and luke had texted him a link, with the subject line (who even uses subject lines?), _Check it out ! :P_

****

for someone so indignant about his age, luke sure knew how to make himself sound like an year 9. calum rolls his eyes and clicks on the link, the screen shifting him into his youtube app. and he’s so glad he’s swallowed the sip of chocolately goodness he’d taken before the video loaded because holy shit, that’s michael clifford.

****

_that’s michael clifford._ luke couldn’t have known that calum knows michael. luke had been homeschooled until freshman year. it’s virtually impossible that luke could have known that the beautiful red-haired boy singing his heart out through calum’s shitty headphones was the same boy that calum spent the first 10 years of his life with. the boy who made him realize he’s gay. the boy he fell in love with.

****

luke couldn’t have known that, because michael moved away to england the summer before 7th year. calum remembers, because calum cried for hours after the Clifford’s beat up Fiat puttered out of view. michael was his best friend since the day he’d given calum his periwinkle crayon in nursery school.

****

calum didn’t cry. calum couldn’t cry. because michael’s voice was coming through his ears, a voice that was fundamentally the same but so much older, so much sexier, and he was telling calum to “be sure to like and subscribe if you enjoyed it!”. calum had never clicked ‘like’ so fast in his life.

****

x x x

****

after calum’s discovery (and luke’s bewilderment at the tackling hug he gave him), a moral dilemma was unearthed. this was weird - and not just weird like holy-shit-i-want-to-fuck-my-childhood-best-friend weird, weird like it’s-not-everyday-that-you-get-to-reconnect-with-someone-you-lost weird. so more like scary, than weird. calum didn’t want to mess this up; he couldn’t lose michael again. and there were so many things to take into consideration: what if michael is a homophobe, what if michael gets weirded out by my frankly obsessive viewing of his videos, _what if michael doesn’t remember me?_

****

but he knew from experience that not saying things because you’re too afraid is worse than saying the wrong thing. he didn’t want to lose anyone else to fear. so calum sent michael a message; _hey mikey, dont know if u remember me, its calum from primary school :) stumbled over your vids, how ya doin ?_

****

michael responded two minutes later with a _CALPAL AHHHH of course i remember u, ya dork!! im good, whaddya up to ?_ and all of calum’s nervousness evaporated.

****

x x x

****

that was almost two months ago and the two of them were nearly inseparable. calum’s laptop - or rather the boy on it’s screen - became his best friend. it was so easy to fall into their old banter, adding dick jokes and philosophical discussions to the natural flow of conversation that their friendship was categorized by since they were kids. if calum was to be honest though, he’d have to acknowledge the subtle disconnect. there were so many pauses in conversation where it felt right to calum to just lean onto the older boy’s shoulder, or reach out a hand to touch his wrist when something was difficult to talk about. there were far too many instances where it felt natural to reach out and pull michael into a kiss, and calum stayed up late at night imagining and touching his lips, wishing michael’s lips were there instead of his fingers.

****

but michael lived in london and calum lived in sydney and calum was a broke art student with bad financial habits.

 

perhaps the only thing that made being so far away from michael easier was the covers he did for calum. he posted covers twice a week on his youtube, doing a different take on songs of all genres. but calum saved a special place in his heart for the friday night skype sessions that they'd made a tradition. calum would make himself tea and biscuits and set up in front of his computer, lazily doing uni work but mostly chatting with michael, his smile almost too bright for the dark room (in the beginning, luke had tried to drag calum out for drinks but quickly realized that the promise of michael's company was far more appealing to calum than any amount of alcohol).

the best part of their sessions is when it gets quiet, and smoothed over, and soft, and michael gets the look in his eye that calum can't quite pinpoint, but knows all too well. he'll take out his battered acoustic guitar, and sing calum anything he requests, and calum will close his eyes and imagine that he's right there with michael.

calum struggles not to admit to himself that it's the best part of his week.

 

x x x

 

it's during one of their sessions that calum gets the idea, actually. this week, the song is one by ed sheeran, and calum is nervous, because recently his song choice has become extremely reflective of his feelings towards michael; every song he's requested has been about unrequited love. he's sure that michael must know, and he thinks michael might feel the same, but he has no idea how to tell the older boy.

michael is eating m&m's but he hates all the other colors except red, no matter how many times calum explains that they all taste the same. michael refuses to eat any of the other colors. the recently-turned-black-haired boy's tongue is poking out of the corner of his mouth and his brow is scrunched up in concentration, trying to make sure that he rids himself of every offending yellow, orange, blue, and brown candy.  _i can't believe i'm in love with this absolute dork._

and it hits him - he's in love with michael. "duh", michael would say, but it's easy to deny; michael's little quirks and mannerisms have plunged calum into something that he can't dig himself out of. an idea forms in his mind and he decides: he's going to tell michael.

x x x

luke is more than willing to help him with his plan, because as he says, "if you and that asshat finally get your shit together i can meet ashton in person". so for the next friday skype session, luke stays home, and they both set themselves up on the couch. when the call connects and michael takes in the scene, he merely quirks an eyebrow and begins. luke lowers the sign, that reads,  **just listen** , and smiles.

_"hey_

_i know you only like red m &ms_

_even though they taste the same as the others_

_and you like to watch cartoons shirtless in your boxers_

_on saturday mornings_

_your ears stick out a bit too much_

_and you like to think you're butch_

_but i love your tummy_

_it looks like it'd be a perfect pillow_

_speaking of pillows, i miss making blanket forts_

_in the middle of july because the sky was falling_

_i hope you know you're special_

_and that your puns aren't as bad as i make them out to be_

_i hope you know i love you and that_

_my love is as wide as the sea_

_i hope you know you make me happy"_

 

by the end of the song, calum is blushing up to his roots and michael is crying into his bowl of captain crunch and luke has left the room, leaving the couple to sort things out.

"i love you too, calum," michael says and calum hopes he's not dreaming hopes he hasn't slept late hopes that this is real that michael is his-

"promise?"

 

"promise," and calum knows that even though michael lives nine thousand miles away, home is with him.

****  
  
**   
**

**Author's Note:**

> okay so i just finished this and it's undoubtably the longest thing i've ever written i hope it's not as bad as i think it is. will probably be edited l8r sorry for any errors, i really need a beta. find me at @daddykinkash on twitter and cuzmuffinn.tumblr.com :-)


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